Bought from (gosh, I never know how to refer to lj users) here, also etsy. I have to frame them and then actually put up all the framed art I have sitting on the floor. But I know exactly where I will put them. (Though I occasionally consider putting them in the office instead of the bedroom.)
Eat your heart out, PZ.
How bad is it that I totally want to steal this idea? They’re so much fun. I particularly like Haystacks, End of Summer, Morning Effect, with Horsies.
I’ve decided, this fall, to take an art(y) class. Something new. There are two classes which look interesting. I am undecided.
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
Also possible: one of many glass courses, other woodworking studios.
I found my sketching pencils and my Conté crayons. Still missing most of my pastels, though.
I think I am going to make stained glass for some of my windows. I have a 1m square window in my bedroom, and a huge window in my living room, and I just need to figure out what kind of designs they need. I think floral-ish for my living room and geometric (I have a half-baked idea in mind) for my bedroom, but I’m open to other ideas. (Like: a triptych for my living room? Etc.)
Chanukah gifts from last year, and birthday gifts from this year, and possibly Chanukah for next year as well, all tied up in art! Yay art! (Pieces being brought over Saturday and picked up Tuesday.) I need to start saving money to use for art. And doing art, too. But I feel so very incapable of it right now.
I can see hours and hours of waste here.
Look: my first piece of art.
Update: there’s an extra apple in it. Grrr. Pretend the one in the top left isn’t there.
via SB
I have not been posting NaNoWriMo updates. Why? It is in fact not because I haven’t started: I have. It’s more the number of words I have written which is the problem. I suspect my average blog post might, in fact, be longer.
Is “I’m moving” a valid excuse? It had better be.
Finally: a photo of my fused “plate”. It’s got (another) great big hole in it, but I think I know how to make stuff where that won’t happen anymore. I’ve also decided which kiln to get — all I need to do is figure out who to get it from. There are three possibilities, I just need to find out who’s got the kiln cheapest. It’s actually cheapest at this place in the US, by far, but I’m not sure if taking a day out to go somewhere just to pick up a kiln is a great plan or not. Also I’d need to ask the people I’d have it sent to. And, crucially, I’d need proof it’s American-made. But it’s definitely under consideration.
My sister suggests I can use it as a candle holder, which is possible. It’s nice, and I now feel I’m ready for the big(ger) times.
I’ve finished cutting all the pieces for my box, too, though I haven’t even thought about grinding them yet. Still: time enough ahead.
Had the first slumping class today. I made a circle and covered it with pretty, pretty glass, and it’s being fused as we speak. Tomorrow we will slump them and talk about all the fun technical details which, because I am a geek and a science geek, I am looking forward to a great deal. And we should get to see the glass slump, because it’s likely to reach 1200 degrees before we leave, so this should be fun.
Also we made a flat bowl, or a rounded plate, and not a sushi dish. Much better.
Doing this puts me in such a good mood. I’ve only got a few more pieces to cut for the top of my turtle box, and I found my thing to help with cutting long straight lines — again, I forget the word — so I can do the sides and base. I have my hacksaw to make the hinges.
I will have a plate! A glass plate! I’m so looking forward to the results. I really want to do more of this. Kiln. I need a kiln. Jewelry. And plates and bowls and just experimenting to see what’s what. The only problem is that I’d rather like one that I could use float glass with, but I think I will not get a kiln that can go hot enough. I certainly won’t be able to comb. But it seems silly to get one where I’d need an electrician to come in and install it for me in my parents’ home.
Still. This will be much joy.
This weekend I’m all set for the fusion course. I’m not so terribly excited about making a sushi dish — don’t eat sushi — but just knowing the techniques. Alas, we don’t get to use the kiln so much ourselves. I do intend to remedy that quite soon. I want a kiln. I really want a kiln. I know exactly where to put a kiln. I could make bowls in a kiln. I could buy dichroic glass! I could make myself barrettes (scroll down just a bit less than halfway).
I’ve been working on a stained glass project at home, rather slowly. I’m very proud; the ambery colour I picked matches just right the base I already had. (I *like* boxes.) Of course as I was doing something I dropped the piece, but luckily I only needed three fairly small pieces for the box — I can use the rest elsewhere — so I cut those out. Now I’m trying to cut out pieces of clear patterned glass for parts of it, but one of those pieces is really thick and a huge huge huge pain to deal with. And I can’t find my thing to make straight cuts (I forget what it’s called). I could just use the side of a table or whatnot, but I’d prefer not to, given the choice. Especially for the box sides, which really need to be straight.
I’m working on the box top first. I think it has about 20 pieces, which is pretty basic, but boxes are not so big. Of course, small pieces are in many ways harder to deal with, except that they’re less of a pain when they break, because you’re less likely to need to go out and buy another sheet of glass. That’s about the only way small pieces are better, actually — they’re harder to break right, they’re harder to grind down because they’re a pain to hold, they’re harder to copper foil. They’re not harder to solder; they’re not easier either.
But tops aren’t too bad to solder, because they’re flat. Flat is much, much easier. The sides are harder; not too bad, when you have electrical tape, which I don’t, at the moment. Then I need to find a file or something, because I need to cut through some metal to make the hinge. Hardware store soon! Also I’m out of solder and all my glass globs disappeared, but I was going to the glass store tomorrow anyways . . . I have all these cool plans for stuff with globs. Oh, I can’t find my copper foil. Why, yes, I am blogging-as-shopping-list. Writing stuff down helps me remember. With luck typing will work as well. Equally well, not just also.
Glass. I’m avoiding cutting some of it because I don’t like cutting *out* the pattern, then drawing onto dark opaque glass. I’ve never found anything that works well. Some people swear by liquid paper pens, but they just annoy me. We’ll see. I’m actually using more of that green glass with mica bits in it, which isn’t too terrible to work with, all things considered.
I sort of want to make a proper window something again. I have no wonderful ideas — all my ideas are 3d; I need to think more. Suggestions welcome.